Originally Posted by Ladyjanedoe
I ordered a simple computer game for my son a few weeks back. I chose an in state seller because I thought it would get here faster. It took TEN BUSINESS days for the item to arrive. TEN BUSINESS days! The seller was 75 miles away. I could have walked there and back several times.
That seller may well use SmartPost, which is an alliance between FedEx and USPS. The way it works is that FedEx picks up the package and transports it to the destination Post Office using FedEx's own network of trucks. Then the Post Office delivers it the last mile on its local routes.
This is supposedly a little less expensive for the sender than having it go FedEx all the way. Our FedEx sales rep was trying to talk us into using this service, but... your post illustrates perfectly that what the CUSTOMER wants is faster delivery. SmartPost takes longer than regular FedEx ground and is a LOT slower than USPS Priority Mail (which is our preferred shipping method as it is fast and usually quite accurate). We've chosen to stay with USPS. It gives us and our customers "more bang for the buck".